It was a mixed bag of results for Griffin sports teams over the weekend as the Spring seasons opened and the quest for Winter CIF titles continued.
The Los Al Boys soccer team advanced to the CIF Division III quarter-finals with an impressive 4-0 win at Bloomington High on Saturday evening, but they were the only Griffin teams to advance to the quarterfinals from weekend games.
Both the Los Alamitos High Boys and Girls Basketball teams fell in close matches in the second round of CIF Playoff action.
The Boys hoopsters fell 70-65 at St. Paul on Friday night while the Girls dropped a close 51-48 match to Whittier on Saturday night at the griffin gym. The Los Al Boys end their season with a 20-8 mark while the girls close out 2022-23 with a 20-10 mark. Both were Surf League champions.
In the Los Al Boys soccer match, the Griffins didn’t give Bloomington a chance. Demetrious Tanks (shown left with family on Senior Night) scored first with an assist from Alberto Gomez. Tanks notched another, this time assisted by James Metcalfe. Metcalfe then assisted on a Gomez goal and Karson Fox finished the scoring with the assist going to Jack Nishimoto.
The Griffins improved their season record to 15-6-3, and will now host Canyon High of Anaheim on Wednesday. Canyon, which finished in second place in the Crestview League, has a 14-6-5 mark. Game time at Los Al HS is 5pm. The winner advances to a semi-final match on Friday against the winner of the Newport harbor-Long Beach Cabrillo match.
The Girls Soccer team, which won its opening round match on Wednesday, returns to the pitch at Mira Costa on Tuesday. The Griffins were ranked No 5 in Division I going into the playoffs. Mira Costa, which was unranked, upset No. 4 seed Temecula Valley, but this should come as no surprise as the Mustangs have only lost twice this year. The brackets can be seen here.
The Girls Water Polo squad, which defeated Surf league rival and defending CIF Open Division champ, Newport Harbor last Wednesday returns to action on Wednesday with a semi-final match against Orange Lutheran. The Grifins were seeded No. 3, and OLu was seeded No. 2. The other semi-final pits No. 1 Foothill against No 4 Laguna Beach. Both contests will be played at Foothill High School. The brackets can be seen here
Spring Sports are now fully underway. The Los Al Boys baseball squad opened their season with a 6-0 shutout over Palos Verdes on Saturday. Senior pitcher Josh Donegan got the win as he shut down Palos Verdes through 5 innings. Senior Derek Valdez recorded the save. The Griffin offense was led by Wyatt Madison’s two-run bomb over the rightfield wall. Los Al returns to action with two games in the Loara Tournament this week. On Thursday they play at Lakewood, and on Saturday they host Aliso Viejo.
Softball – In an early season showdown between powerhouse Division I teams that annually make deep runs into the CIF playoffs, Norco downed Los Alamitos 3-0 on the Griffins field. Los Al travels to Orange Lutheran for a 3:15 game today.
